#23-24 season

[didtheykiss]

Jonah at Roundabout Theatre Company

Did they kiss?

Yes, Ana (Beans) did kiss Jonah (Oliveras), Danny (Levine), and Steven (Zdrojeski). (Is there another play where the lead kisses every other character?) There was also physical intimacy beyond kissing.

Should they have?

Yes, it was good that Ana and Jonah kissed. It's important to establish the sweet, fantastical, feel-good kiss to contrast with her reality as well as her relationship with Danny. Once we realized Jonah is her fantasy, it also felt important for us to understand what her desire looked like (even though I have some questions about the racial implications of her desires...).

In that same vein, yes, it was good (for the play!) that Ana and Danny kissed, as upsetting as their relationship was. They also share an intimate gesture of Ana holding Danny's head as a way to calm him down, which was a great way to both show how Danny needs and uses Ana and also track Ana's perspective on their relationship as they get older.

In their first scene together, Danny touches Ana intimately in a way that Ana is not expecting, which was a very effective way for us to understand how their relationship toes the line of consent. Thus, I don't know if their onstage sex scene was necessary as it communicated something similar in a much more visceral way. It's important for the story to understand that they have a sexual relationship, but there are other just as uncomfortable ways to imply they do that don't involve an audience witnessing it.

Finally, no! Ana and Steven should not have kissed! If the purpose of Steven as a character is to allow Ana to have a real relationship with a (white-presenting?) man who allows her safety and a reconnection with her body, then does that relationship have to be romantic/sexual? Would it perhpas have been more healing to see her for once have an intimate but platonic relationship with a (white-presenting??) man? If the purpose of Steven is allowing Ana to have agency in an initmate relationship in a way she dreamed of with Jonah and didn't with Danny, then would it not be more empowering to see her, say, withhold a kiss and do something else, especially as her fantasies were always more psychological than physical? Or if they must kiss, as Ana's body has been so sexualized throughout the play, would it not be more empowering if an audience is not allowed the satisfaction of seeing the kiss? The lights going out before their lips touch, her desires being for her and herself only...

Before they kiss, Steven offers Ana a hand to hold should she need it. A offering to care for her, unlike the way Ana was expected to care for Danny. She deicdes to take Steven's hand. That was enough for me.

Jonah written by Rachel Bonds directed by Danya Taymor produced by Roundabout Theatre Company starring Gabby Beans, Samuel H. Levine, Hagan Oliveras, and John Zdrojeski Jonah runs from January 11 – March 10, 2024. It runs 1hr and 40min.

[afrotumble]

EVERYONE’S GAME | NBA 2023-2024

[mattatouilletkachuk]

“Can I sleep with you? with timo !!!

I’m All Yours || Timo Meier

Prompt: 29. “Can I sleep with you?”

Word count: 1.4k

A/N: I’m actively fist fighting writers block as I’m posting this. I also didn’t edit this so if my grammar is all over the place we should maybe focus on something else.

You were stubborn. You knew this and accepted it. Everyone had faults and some people refused to ever look in the mirror and face theirs. However, your stubbornness was not something you had to reflect on and learn about yourself. You had been a stubborn child, something that had gotten you into trouble often, and even now you were a stubborn adult.

Usually, it wasn’t a problem in your relationship.

Tonight was different, though.

Tonight was supposed to be your night together. The season had just ended and you finally had your boyfriend all to yourself. So when the two of you had gone out for dinner, just you and him in what felt like forever, you were delighted. When he looked at you with such admiration in his eyes or when he held your smaller hand within his own as he drove to the restaurant, it felt like a battle to not throw up the butterflies that were fluttering about in your stomach.

When the waitress had come to the table and made it abundantly clear that Timo was going to be at the sole focus of her attention. Every time she giggled or blushed, your heart had sunken deeper and the sips you had taken from your glass of wine had become longer. Timo hadn’t told a joke or shown any interest in her. In all the time the two of you had been together he had never done anything to make you feel as though he even thought of straying away from your relationship.

That wasn’t the point, though, and that was what he didn’t understand. He only looked at you with confusion as you slowly stopped contributing in the conversation. The confusion had turned to irritation when during the car ride back home you were quiet. Your cheeks were warm from the alcohol and there was an envious angry little monster in your chest that just wanted to rear its head.

Your boyfriend was charming, athletic and easy on the eyes. It wasn’t hard to understand the attention that he received and during the hockey season you were fine to step back and watch with a smile as people flocked to him. This was the off-season, though, and it was supposed to be your time with your boyfriend but it seemed as if you couldn’t even have that.

That was what he didn’t understand.

“I can’t control if someone decides to flirt with me,” he had said, annoyed that he even had to have this argument. He thought you would understood that and see that he never indulged those who batted their eyelashes at him.

“That’s not why I’m upset,” you scoffed, not looking at Timo. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at your boyfriend and be reminded how even though you felt as though you were entirely his, he was never fully yours.

You had made your way into your shared bedroom and were struggling to undo the straps of your heels when Timo walked through the bedroom door. It only took one glance at the man to know that he was slowly losing his patience. His neatly combed hair was all over the place, probably from running his hands through it.

You looked away. You knew if you really took him in and saw the confused frustration on his face your anger would seep out of your body and for just a little while you wanted to sit in your simmering anger.

“Why are you upset then?” He asked.

When you finally managed to pull your shoes off you sighed and kicked them to the side. Timo watched, noting how you didn’t pick them up and put them in their place in the closet like you usually did.

“Did you even realize that tonight was the first night that we were spending together, alone and to ourselves in months?”

“That’s not true.” Timo said immediately.

“Oh? When was the last time we actually spent time together? Just you and me?” Your voice cracked as you asked him. You knew when the last time was and you were even more certain that Timo didn’t.

“Schatz-,” Timo sighed and took a step closer to you only for you to shake your head and step further away.

“I’ve accepted that I have to share you with everyone but it would be nice if you could actually want to spend time with just me,” you said bitterly.

You grabbed a pillow from your side of the bed when you felt a lump start to form in your throat. You didn’t want to cry but more than that you didn’t want to cry in front of Timo.

“I’m gonna spend tonight in the living room, goodnight.” You dodged his arms as you left your bedroom with your pillow and pajamas in your arms.

He called out for you again but knew better than to come after you. Sometimes you needed a minute to yourself.

However, a few minutes had turned into a few hours and you were still sitting on the couch. At this point, the only thing keeping you in the living room was your own stubbornness. You were still upset but the anger you had felt earlier had slowly ebbed away and now you just wanted to crawl into your comfortable bed and fall asleep in Timo’s open arms. You didn’t want to appear like a misbehaved dog that was coming back to its master with its tail between its legs. You weren’t wrong and a part of you needed your boyfriend to know that too.

You pulled the throw blanket you had pulled from the end of the couch tighter around yourself as you watched the clock that hung on the wall. With each tick that moved the arms of the clock you grew more antsy and after thirty minutes you finally sat up.

Grabbing your pillow and standing up you decided that you would be annoyed with your actions tomorrow. Tonight you just needed to feel your boyfriends strong arms around you.

Padding softly to your bedroom you silently hoped that Timo had fallen asleep. That way you wouldn’t have to explain yourself.

You didn’t get so lucky. As you stood in the door way to your bedroom Timo blinked back at you from your large bed. He wasn’t small by any means but looking on it seemed as if the bed was trying to swallow him whole.

“Can I sleep with you?” It was almost a whisper. You felt childish but also wary asking if. What if he was angry with you for being so upset earlier? You didn’t have anything left in you to fight again tonight.

Without hesitating Timo opened his arms for you. You wasted no time in striding over and crawling into the bed. You dropped your pillow in its usual spot and then promptly ignored it as you laid your head on Timo’s muscular chest. His arms closed around you and the warmth that enveloped you was enough to make you set out a sigh of relief.

Your eyes started to flutter shut as Timo rubbed soothing circles on your warm. You thought you were going to fall asleep without either of you saying anything but Timo whispered in the darkness, “it was during the preseason. When we went on a walk through the park and you ate the entire pretzel we were meant to share.”

You stiffened, jolted into a more awake state by his words.

“What?”

“The last time we spent time together,” he said, quiet and slowly as if he was afraid you’d turn away from him. “Just the two of us.”

“Timo-,” you said, just as quietly. You thought he had forgotten. That once the season started up again the only thing that he thought about was the game he played and those he played with and for.

“You have every right to be angry. Tonight was supposed to be about the two of us and I’m sorry that I didn’t see that you were upset earlier.”

You took in what he was saying in silence. You could hear and feel how sorry he was in the way he spoke and how he held you. The two of you definitely needed to talk more about this but that could wait until the sun was shining and you were both clear minded and awake. Tonight you only needed one thing.

“You’re all mine?”

You asked him, hating how fragile and hopeful you sounded.

He turned his head to the side so his lips brushed against your forehead as he spoke softly, saying the words as though they were a promise, “all yours.”

[sportsthoughts]

Day 105 of offseason gifs - happy birthday geno!! - some of my favourite moments of Geno @ 37

[graveyardgayme]

Mitch Marner. | Hockey Night in Brampton | 2024-08-21

[escapentropy]

thinking about this

(new jersey devils @ anaheim ducks | 03/01/24)

[brandtsstuff10]

Jule appraises his teammates using only one word.

On Mats Hummels: I'd say "fuckin legend".

"If I were to leave the serious stuff to one side, I'd say stubborn. He can be so stubborn often like a little kid."

[didtheykiss]

Mary Gets Hers at Playwrights Realm

Did they kiss?

No, no characters in the play kissed! Even though there was ~tension~ all over the place!

Should they have?

No, it was good that nobody kissed! First of all, Mary (Wong) is 12 and even though it is implied that she is kissing a lot of people, we don't have to see that to understand it and the ickiness of it! And while there was lite ~flirting~ between Abraham (Perkins) and the Soldier (Heath), and while Abraham and Ephraim (Chavez-Richmond) clearly share a deep bond, the monks have not enough self-awareness of their bodies to probably even understand that they'd want a kiss. And it probably adds to the ~tension~ that nobody kisses, which makes it all the more ticklish and gleeful.

The most intimate moment in the play was when Mary smelled the Soldier's head, as she did her to parents when they were alive. It was such a tender gesture that exemplified the kind of intimacy Mary longs for--one that gives a sense of belonging.

Mary Gets Hers written by Emma Horwitz directed by Josiah Davis produced by Playwrights' Realm, presented at MCC Theater starring Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Kai Heath, Susannah Perkins, Claire Siebers, Haley Wong Mary Gets Hers runs from September 11 – October 14, 2023. It runs 1hr and 30min.

[world-of-stone]

Preach it, Halvor!!! 🔥

[richarlisonny]

[graveyardgayme]

Mitch Marner & Dylan Strome Hockey Night in Brampton | 2024-08-21

[clips: here, photos: top and bottom my own, middle four @mxaether, fun anecdotes in the alt tag captions]

[hubba1892]

Watraru Endo's first Liverpool trophy

[darkwood-sleddog]

Slash working on his bike passes this morning.

September 21, 2023

[forgetaboutluna]

what sent me today was Peter casually pulling his socks off while in the outrun for domen

[willalfmp]

[didtheykiss]

Infinite Life at Altantic Theater

Did they kiss?

No. Sofi (Kirk) and Nelson (Simpson) did not kiss, although there was a proposal of kissing that was not taken up on because Sofi likes to get to the airport really early. However, there were some dirty messages left and some very specific declarations of characters' desires. The other characters did not appear to be romantically or sexually interested in each other, although one could argue the ladies shared an intimacy of a different kind.

Should they have?

No, it was good that they didn't kiss. The relationship between Sofi and Nelson is not about personal connection and more a way to explore desire, and at least for Sofi, desire is a way that she attempts to have some control over a body that feels like it controls her, to give pleasure to a body that is filled with pain. So for her to have control in the last moments of the play to say no to the proposed tete-a-tete, as tempted as she was, felt important to witness. Also, it really is so important to get to the airport early. Sofi does ask for and recieve a picture of Nelson's colonoscopy which, weirdly, did feel like a consumation of their "relationship".

The most intimate moment in the play was when Sofi lifted Eileen's (Burke) legs to give Eileen a moment free from pain. That was very tender, sweet, and simple, like the best kisses are.

Infinite Life written by Annie Baker directed by James Macdonald produced by the Atlantic Theater and the National Theatre (UK) starring Marylouise Burke, Mia Katigbak, Christina Kirk, Kristine Nielsen, Brenda Pressley, Pete Simpson Infinite Life runs at the Linda Gross Theater from August 18 – October 8, 2023. The show runs 1hr 45min.